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International Conference of Liquor& Poetry
Origins: In order to promote research on integration of liquor and poetry in China, enhance exchange of Chinese poets and world poets, quicken an awareness of poetry in civil society, and enrich the cultural life of the people, in 2017, Luzhou People’s Government of Sichuan Province decided, in association with Poetry(monthly journal) operated by China Poetry Institute of China Writers Association, to launch a yearly poetry festival, ie, International Conference of Liquor& Poetry. Luzhou Laojiao (literally oldest cellar in Luzhou), one of China’s Big Four Liquor Producers based in Luzhou city, Sichuan Province, sponsors and hosts the event, jointly organized by China Poetry Institute, Luzhou Laojiao · Guojiao 1573 Research Institute(corporate entity) and Zhongshi Huakai Media Group( a public relations agency based in Beijing).
This cultural event, funded by China’s top liquor producer, hosted by the most renowned professional entity in China’s poetry , in the past seven years, has launched a series of themed poetic activities, seminars, forums, contests, poetry tours etc. It owns and operates, among other things ,two high-end poetry festivals, ie, Qinghai International Poetry Festival (biennial, originated in 2007, set to be into its eighth edition in 2025, usually occurring on July or August) and an art week(yearly, usually falling on late October, a cultural carnival of poetry, painting, music, dance. singing, symphony).
The Prize: In Luzhou, each year a poetry prize is meted out, based on the decision of the jury chaired by Jidi majia, China’s top ethnic poet, poet-politician, one of the most decorated representative poets, consisting of a certificate, a sum of money, say, 157300 RMB, over 21000USD depending on the fluctuation of currency rates and a bottle of Luzhou Laojiao worth 100,000 RMB (The art week also metes out an award to chosen music and painting practitioners home and abroad).
Fun Fact: 1573 refers to the year this famed liquor producer took its origin in the early Ming dynasty, thus named to celebrate the nobility of its origins, the maturity and delicacy of its special aromas. Prize aside, both poetry festivals translates and publishes a book of verse of the awardee. Since its inception, the poetry week in Luzhou alone publishes poems of award winners such as Nuno Judice (Portugal) in 2022,Tulz Istevan(Hungary) in 2023,Oldani (Italy) in 2021, Eleen Ni Chuleenain(Ireland) in 2020, Jean-Pierre Simeron (France) in 2019 etc. The first winner of 1573 Intl Poetry Prize is Thomas Venclova from Lithuania.
Since its establishment in 2017, it has invited more than 200 foreign poets, 6,000 domestic cultural celebrities and hundred thousand poetry fans, practitioners, contest winners to attend seminars on poetry, tour its legendary cellars, sip its refined 1573 spirits drop by drop, witness the awarding ceremonies and performances given by top singing and dancing troupes.
Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin is 2020’ recipient of the 1573 International Poetry Award, one of China’s highest literary honours. Usually presented during a ceremony at the International Festival of Poetry and Liquor in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, the prize includes RMB 150,000 (c. 20,000 euro) and ‘a made-to-order bottle of 50-year old Baijiu (white liquor) worth 10,000 euro’.
What a year this has been for Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin, one of the great living poets. In March she received the Irish Times Poetry Now Award for The Mother House (2019) and this month saw the publication of Collected Poems, both published by The Gallery Press
Russian poet, publisher, and translator Maxim Amelin has been awarded the 1573 Prize for International Poets, one of the most prestigious literary honors in China.
Previous recipients of the award include Lithuanian poet Tomas Venclova, Syrian poet Adonis (who lives in Paris), Hungarian poet István Turczi, and Irish poet Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin.
The prize is presented during the International Poetry and Wine Culture Conference in the city of Luzhou, in China’s Sichuan Province, often referred to as the country’s “capital of liquor.”
The award includes 157,300 yuan (approximately US$20,000), a diploma, and a large bottle of premium 50-year-aged baijiu, valued at around 50,000 yuan. The prize was presented by Jackie Chan, who performed his song The Country during the ceremony, alongside poet and public figure Jidi Majia, chairman of the prize jury, and the director of the 1573 distillery where the famous spirit is produced. The number “1573” refers to the year in which the distillery was founded.
“Your victory proves that poetry has always been, and will continue to be, humanity’s finest way of overcoming obstacles and striving for greater mutual understanding and communication among peoples and nations,” the jury stated in a message obtained by the editors of Year of Literature.
“We believe that awarding you this Prize will contribute to the further expansion of cultural exchanges between China and Russia and serve as an excellent example of mutual recognition among civilizations throughout the world today.”
